History of Mustang Title

Mustang Title is a division of Walker County Title Company, which was established in 1898 by A.T. Randolph, who operated the company for 35+ years.  He had been Walker County Clerk prior to his establishment of this company. In the 1930s, E.R. Berry purchased Walker County Title Company. He had originally come to Huntsville in 1918 to coach football at the local university,  then known as Sam Houston State Teachers College. Following his coaching career,  Berry opened an office on the north side of the courthouse square to practice law.  In 1936, after a devastating fire that gutted the building housing Berry’s law office, he joined with another local attorney, Robert Smither, to form the law partnership of Berry & Smither.  The two partners also shared ownership of Walker County Title Company.  Robert Smither continued his partnership with Berry in both entities, even while he was absent from Huntsville serving in the United State Marines during World War II. Upon his return to Huntsville following the war, both men continued their partnership in both the law office and the title company until Berry’s death in 1968.

On January 1, 1970, Robert Smither sold one-half interest in the title company to Lloyd C. Martin, who was his law partner. At that juncture, the building at, 1109 University Avenue, was occupied by the title company.  In 1972, the title company had an abstract plant built for San Jacinto County.  Walker County Title then began issuing title insurance  in San Jacinto County and has served both Walker and San Jacinto counties since that time.  A few years later, a partial interest in the title company was sold to Attorney James M. Haggard, who subsequently sold his ownership share to Joe B. Henderson, Jr., who remains a partner in the firm.  Hurlene Savage originally joined the Smither & Martin law firm in November 1971, where she remained until March 1982, when she assumed management duties at the Walker County Title Company. Prior to 1971, she had been a public-school teacher in the high schools of Huntsville and Madisonville.

In June of 2020, Walker County Title Company saw the need for a reliable title company in Madisonville, and launched its first satellite office in Madisonville and named it Mustang Title.